We had the same experience sort of; noticeably dimmer. However, we also found that a similarly spec'd LED from a different source was much brighter, so I guess you really have to pay attention to what you're purchasing.

We've changed all interior, all engine room, some exterior, and all courtesy lighting to LED, and we also changed the whole anchor/mastlight fixture to LED. In ALL cases, the LEDs put out more light, in some cases LOTS more light (the anchor light, for instance).

At the same time, we've reduced DC power consumption for lighting by about 90%.

It pays to shop; compare lumens or candela, compare color temperature (~2700°K is approximately the warm lighting incandescent bulbs provide), compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs), compare heat sink capabilities, and when necessary compare whether dimmable or not.

FWIW, most of ours have been from marinebeam.com, not cheap, and some from superbrightleds.com, ditto not cheap. Some of the earlier LEDs I used from a different source had some heat issues, so we replaced.

Another FWIW, I think the specific product name for our G4 bi-pins -- most of our serious interior lighting -- is marinebeam's "Force 12" or something like that. 12 LEDs per disc, warm white (2700°K), dimmable at least on our dimmers.

I also replaced saloon, cabin & ER halogens w/ LED. I've had several (from different suppliers) several have quit and need replacement. I've started to pay close attention to V range as mentioned.
A draw was reduced by approx 90%

I went with hero-led.com. You're buying directly from china. They offer the 10 to 30 volt DC G4 replacements which have been great. As mentioned, you need to go with the brightest ones in warm white for living areas. Prefer the day light or cool white.for the engine room and anchor light. Out of about 100 units I've had 2 failures. I consider this acceptable for the savings. Would also agree with about a 85 to 90% power savings.

One note of caution : you need to down size fuses. These are electronic devices that in rare instances can fail and start a fire if there is enough amperage behind it. I doubled the amount of fixtures in the engine room and converted to LED. There use to be a 40 amp breaker for that circuit. It's now a 5 amp breaker.

Ted

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.........compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs),..............

This is critical and not doing this is the reason for so many reports of failures. A 12 volt LED requires 12 volts. Actual DC voltage on a boat can vary quite a bit and with battery charging, it can be 14 volts or more. This will shorten the life of LEDs considerably.

The way the 10-30 volt LEDs work is, inside the case is a "driver" that monitors the current through the LEDs and controls it by turning the power on and off at high rate that's not visible to the human eye.

LEDs (usually there are several LEDs in a "lamp") typically use 10% of the power of incandescent lamps of the same intensity. That's a good reason to use them on a boat.

We've changed all interior, all engine room, some exterior, and all courtesy lighting to LED, and we also changed the whole anchor/mastlight fixture to LED. In ALL cases, the LEDs put out more light, in some cases LOTS more light (the anchor light, for instance).

At the same time, we've reduced DC power consumption for lighting by about 90%.

It pays to shop; compare lumens or candela, compare color temperature (~2700°K is approximately the warm lighting incandescent bulbs provide), compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs), compare heat sink capabilities, and when necessary compare whether dimmable or not.

FWIW, most of ours have been from marinebeam.com, not cheap, and some from superbrightleds.com, ditto not cheap. Some of the earlier LEDs I used from a different source had some heat issues, so we replaced.

Another FWIW, I think the specific product name for our G4 bi-pins -- most of our serious interior lighting -- is marinebeam's "Force 12" or something like that. 12 LEDs per disc, warm white (2700°K), dimmable at least on our dimmers.

-Chris

Chris is dead on.

Too many just go for any old LED. Not likely going to give acceptable results. There is more to buying a suitable LED than just that it is LED.

Done properly you can substantially drop power usage, keep the brilliance you have now or improve it where needed, keep the warm white most of us want and so on.

Even the voltage range is important. 10-30VDC will keep the same light output under varying voltage supplies which is important.

I used a source other than Marinebeam or Superbright but the same needs applied and I got a nice light for both the boat and my trailer.

The old boat bulbs each drew ~ 1.8A at nominal 12V. The LED draw about 200mA and throw more light. I can now run all 6 salon lights with less draw than one of the old bulbs, not that we do that. I explain this only to highlight the power use reduction available.

But do not look at that power reduction only or you may still be disappointed.

good advise. I'll proceed to replace my automotive style 1141 incandescent bulbs with LED's of similar lumens and color temperature and report results.

I ended up replacing qty 14 of my cabin overhead incandescent bulbs with Amazon cheapies Endpage LED's ($2 per bulb). One of the bulbs was defective out of the package. Current draw reduction is similar to other's posted results. Brightness very similar to the incandescent- warm white. Tested with voltages from about 10.5- 13 volts. So far very happy with the switch.

LEDs use about 10 percent of the old incandescent bulbs power. Yes the cheapest are not as bright. Where my wife complains I leave the old. We have just one fixture left over the range to find something bright enough but not offensive.